Nigerian Singer Kunmie Releases Debut Album ’22’

Nigerian singer, songwriter and producer Kunmie has released his debut album 22 via ONErpm, a 13-track project that draws on the personal journey he began when he left home at 16 to pursue music.

The album arrives on the heels of his 2025 breakout single “Arike,” which spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Official Nigeria Top 100, reached the top five of the Official UK Afrobeats Chart and charted in more than 20 countries.

Titled after the year he says he truly understood the artist he was meant to become, 22 explores themes of freedom, survival, self-belief, love, vulnerability and faith. It also confronts the pressures that followed his rapid rise and gives voice to questions about identity and purpose.

A Prophecy and a Leap of Faith

Kunmie, who was born in Lagos, said his decision to leave home at 16 was not an escape but a move toward something he believed in. “I wasn’t running away from anything; I was running towards purpose and destiny,” he said. “Some people would call it delusion, others would call it confidence, but to me it wasn’t either of those things. It felt more like a prophecy. I was very sure then, and I’m still very sure now, about where I’m going and the levels I believe I’ll reach.”

He traced that certainty to a personal prophecy he received in 2019, when a stranger stopped him in a market and spoke about his life and where music would take him.

“My confidence didn’t come from believing I had the best voice or that I was the most skilled artist. It came from a personal prophecy I received in 2019. I was in the market with a friend when a man stopped me, told me parts of my life story, and spoke about where music would take me. I’m not someone who easily believes those kinds of things, but I believed what he told me.

Whenever I doubted myself or questioned whether I should continue making music, I always went back to that moment. As I studied the Bible and other historical books, I realised that prophecies are often spoken long before they come to pass. There’s usually a journey between the promise and its fulfilment. That understanding kept me going. If it had only been my own decision, I might have given up at some point. But every time I felt like walking away from music, that prophecy reignited something in me.”

Freedom, Pressure and Creative Control

Kunmie acknowledged the pressure that comes with success, but said he feels freer now. “Success creates more freedom than confinement because it gives you more resources to express your ideas the way you’ve always wanted to,” he said, pointing to the ability to work with multiple producers as an example.

He traced his willingness to risk everything to his father. “Growing up, I watched him put everything he had into what he believed in, whether it was giving generously or investing in the best equipment he could afford at the time. I’d say he has had a huge influence on the way I make decisions.”

The Meaning of ‘22’

Kunmie explained that while 2019 was the year he knew he was supposed to make music, 2022 was when he grasped the kind of music he was meant to create. “That was when I understood what Afrobeats meant to us as a country and what it could mean to the rest of the world. I wanted to bring soul and storytelling into my own interpretation of it. That’s what this album represents.”

The title track serves as the album’s emotional centre, revisiting memories he had spent years avoiding.